Perfect Roast Chicken
2018-03-08 08:59:58
Serves 6
A sign of a great cook is his or her ability to roast a chicken. It seems so easy – just pop the bird in a pan and stick it in the oven, but just taking a few steps in between will produce a moist and tender bird, fit for a Sunday mealtime centerpiece. And if you really want to make life easy this week, roast two birds at the same time, carving the second one for use later in the week.
Brining is a cook’s insurance that the bird will be moist, and sealing the skin by coating it in butter before roasting results in the golden, crispy skin we love. Sliding butter under the skin keeps the breast tender and flavorful. Turning the bird during roasting helps keep the breast from drying out before the legs nad thighs are fully cooked.
Consider mixing herbs and spices into the softened butter before placing it under the skin. The fat transfers flavor into the breast meat more intensely than when the flavorings are added to the brine. Use one teaspoon finely chopped herbs per tablespoon of butter. Try thyme, rosemary, parsley, garlic, curry or chili powder, or minced ginger.
Ingredients
- ½ cup salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 (3 ½ pound) whole chicken
- Canola oil or cooking spray
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened, divided
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 lemon
- 1-2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Instructions
- Dissolve the salt and sugar in two quarts of water in a pot or tub large enough to submerge the whole chicken under the water. Add the chicken and refrigerate for 1 – 4 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400° F. Place an oiled or sprayed V-shpaed rack in alarge roasting pan. Remove the bird from the brine to a colander placed in the sink, rinse under cold water, pat dry, and move to a cutting board. Using your fingers, carefully loosen the skin from the breast meat.
- Spoon 1 tablespoon of the softened butter under the skin of one side of the breast. Spread the butter by massaging it through the skin. Repeat with the other side of the breast.
- Rub the skin of the entire bird with the remaining butter and season with pepper. Cut off both ends of the lemon and then cut the lemon in half horizontally. Insert the lemon halves and rosemary into the cavity of the chicken.
- Move the chicken to the oiled rack, placing it on its side (one wing facing up). Let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
- Roast for 15 minutes.
- Using long tongs or wadded paper towels, rotate the chicken in the rack to the other side so that the other wing is facing up. Roast 15 minutes.
- Rotate the chicken again so that the breast is now facing up and continue roasting for 20-25 minutes, or until the thickest part of the thigh reaches 175° on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove the chicken to a clean cutting board and allow it to rest for 10-15 minutes, then carve and serve
Notes
- Brining
- Soaking a chicken in a solution of water and salt before roasting adds moisture to the meat, resulting in a very succulent, juicy chicken. The salt denatures the proteins in the muscle fibers – actually unwinding the protein bundles in the muscle – thereby tenderizing the meat and allowing the fibers to absorb the flavor of the brine. Note that if you are brining smaller pieces of chicken (thighs, wings, drumsticks), brine for only 30 minutes. Always discard the brine after use.
- ©2016 The University of North Carolina Press and Cynthia Graubart
- From “a Savor the South Cookbook: Chicken”
Recipes from Cooks Warehouse https://recipe.cookswarehouse.com/
